China News Service, Baoding, March 22 (Lü Zihao, Yu Junliang, Xu Yingzhe) On the afternoon of March 22, reporters learned at the working conference of the Commodity Trading Market Professional Committee of the China General Chamber of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the "CGCC Market Committee") held in Baigou, Hebei, that China's first national standard in the market sector—China's "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets"—jointly formulated by the committee, outstanding markets, and the Industry Department of the China General Chamber of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the "CGCC Industry Department"), has passed expert review and will be released and implemented within this year.

 

　　On the afternoon of March 22, the working conference of the CGCC Market Committee was held in Baigou New City, Baoding, Hebei Province. At the meeting, Jiang Ming, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China General Chamber of Commerce, disclosed that China's "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets" passed expert review on March 21, 2014, and is scheduled to be released and implemented within 2014.

 

　　Jiang Ming introduced that China's "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets" was drafted in accordance with the national standard project plan for "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets" issued under Document No. [2011] 82 of the National Standardization Administration, and was organized and jointly drafted by the CGCC Market Committee and the CGCC Industry Department with relevant units under the guidance of the China General Chamber of Commerce, and was finalized after in-depth discussion and revision of the standard's content at four meetings. The standard consists of two major parts: the first part is the classification and evaluation of commodity wholesale markets; the second part is the code of conduct for wholesalers.

 

　　Zhang Ming, General Manager of Shenyang Wu'ai Group, stated that the "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets" defines the positioning of markets and wholesalers. In the future development process, wholesalers at different levels, in different regions, and under different economic development conditions will all have a grade and standard to determine their own development direction. At the same time, the establishment of this standard has guiding significance and a leading role for future market development, and the design and planning at the initial stage of market establishment will all refer to this standard.

 

　　Wei Shaojun, Chairman of Hebei Longjitaihe Industrial Co., Ltd., a former top 500 Chinese enterprise, stated that the current market is facing a huge challenge of changing from quantitative to qualitative. At present, the number of e-commerce sellers in Baigou has reached 12,000. The rise of e-commerce is a devastating blow to traditional specialized markets. If the market cannot effectively combine with commerce and finance, it will face "death." The introduction of the "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets" is an opportunity for transformation and development for markets and physical stores.

 

　　He Jihai, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China, said that the traditional operating model of China's market has reached a time when reform is imperative. Rational layout must be carried out, and the path of brand-oriented, diversified, and differentiated operation must be taken. At present, the state has given a series of policy support to the development of traditional markets, such as requiring that the commercial area of newly built residential communities be no less than 10% of their total area, in order to encourage the development of physical stores and facilitate people's shopping at their doorsteps. Although the development momentum of e-commerce is relatively strong, it cannot completely replace physical stores. In the future, only through the effective combination of physical stores and e-commerce can the market develop well. Therefore, the introduction and implementation of the "Classification and Rating of Wholesale Markets" is very necessary.